Dutch-born footballer Georginio Wijnaldum has explained the reason why he erased his Ghanaian name on his official documents.
He stated with certainty that the name “Boateng” was adopted as a result of his mother marrying a Ghanaian man, an ex-footballer identified as George Boateng.
However, since the marriage failed there was no need to maintain it.
His stay at Liverpool actually was really a memorable one and undoubtedly the best spell he's had in his career having played an integral role in Jurgen Klopp's side that won the UEFA Champions League in 2019 and Premier League in 2020.
Speaking in an interview, the stalwart midfielder revealed he has no decent with the West African nation but had “Boateng” included to his name at some point because he had a Ghanaian step father and dumped the name after he divorced his mother.
He said; "I want to put on record that I am now Georginio Wijnaldum, not Georginio Boateng, in fact, I have been known as George Wijnaldum for four years now,” he stated as quoted by GOAL.
He added; “Boateng was the name of my former stepfather who is related to retired Dutch footballer of Ghanaian origin George Boateng. My stepfather gave his surname to me but after he divorced my mother I got the Boateng off my name and took my mother’s name Wijnaldum as my surname.”
Giorginio Wijnaldum, now 31-year-old, just recently won the French Ligue 1 with Paris Saint Germain having made over 30 appearances for them in all competitions with a goal and three assists.
By: Michael Djan
French Tutor and Digital Marketing Blogger/Content Writer and GhanaWeb Professional Reporter/ frencheducationgh.com